Sherry on the wine list

I was having a very enjoyable lunch with a fellow #sherrylover recently in Taberna Verdejo in Madrid, a quite terrific restaurant with no fewer than 26 Sherries and Manzanillas on offer, but as we looked around the tables we realised we were the only people actually drinking them. It got us thinking about what could be done to change this travesty. It occurred to me that while restaurants and sommeliers may know all about the qualities of the wines of Jerez and Sanlucar, they regularly fail to include them on winelists, sometimes focus on the wrong ones, nearly always list them in the wrong place, and sometimes serve them in the wrong glasses. If restaurants and sommeliers are serious about helping their clients to discover these wines a new approach is needed. Here's how I would go about it. 

First, include your Sherries and Manzanillas on the wine list. I have come across a strange phenomenon of restaurants that have sherries - even a range of styles - but for some reason those wines do not appear anywhere on the list. They don't fit on the page, or in the categories, or whatever - they just get forgotten. I know of at least four restaurants in Madrid where this applies. Even if it is just the Manzanilla and the Fino by the glass, don't be shy - put them on the list! 

Second, don't fixate on aperitifs and digestifs.  I'm no expert on the restaurant trade, but I have the impression that one of the main reasons that people decide to go to restaurants is in order to eat food of some kind. As such, your chances of selling them wines will be significantly increased if the wines in question pair well with the food on offer. From this point of view, the wine lists I see around tend to have the wrong emphasis: a lot of high quality yeasty and mineral Finos and Manzanillas at the top; some equally high quality but heavy hitting VOS and VORS at the bottom; but not enough in between. It is easy to see why. Sherries have been seen as aperitifs or wines for sipping after dinner, and the better lists tend to upgrade those offers for the top and tails of the meal. The problem is that these very select wines can be quite expensive and their qualities can make it more difficult to find pairings. By all means cater to Sherry buffs who will prize these special wines, but spare a thought too for the vast majority of thirsty customers looking for something to help wash down their dinner.  

Third, invest in some adaptable "midfielders". While a lot of the wine lists I come across are strong in the lightest and the heaviest wines, I find they often lacki many of the best wines to help wash down dinner: the lighter but still tasty "midfielders" like the younger Palo Cortados, Amontillados and Olorosos. These wines have those sweeter notes that accompany most flavours, that little bit of acidity that really helps balance the food, and they are that bit more approachable for non-sherry drinkers. Wines that spring to mind are Emilio Hidalgo's Oloroso Gobernador or Tresillo Amontillado Fino, Baron's Micaela Amontillado, Gonzalez Byass' Palo Cortado Leonor (or the Amontillado Viña AB), Lustau's Amontillado del Puerto G Obregon, Primitivo Collantes' "Fossi" Amontillado Fino, Callejuela's super elegant Oloroso el Cerro, Fernando de Castilla's Antique Palo Cortado  ... but this list could go on and on. One of my favourite wine lists in Madrid is that of the Chula de Chamberi, where despite only having seven of these wines by the glass on the list (they have more if you ask - see point one above) those seven wines include four "midfield" gems like the Tresillo, the Gobernador, the Micaela and the Antique Palo Cortado.